AN MP today expressed concern about the future of York’s former carriageworks site after it emerged it is being marketed for sale at £11 million York’s MP Hugh Bayley is seeking assurances from the London owner of the massive 18.3-acre industrial site at Holgate Park that whoever buys the site will ensure continuity for rail firms which continue to operate there.

That includes the NDS, or National Delivery Service for Network Rail, which uses the building to service seasonal rail vehicles which maintain the line, such as leaf-removers. Its lease expires next year.

The question is what would happen to the workers there after next year if the new owner has different plans for the site.

Network Rail employs between 25 and 30 full time workers there, but numbers can rise to about 100 when work becomes intense.

A spokeswoman for Network Rail said she could not comment on what would happen once the lease ran out. “That is commercially sensitive,” she said.

Mr Bayley said he intended to contact the landowners, London-based Warner Estate Holdings.

He said: “I am concerned that there should be continuity for rail firms there and I want the owners to outline their plans for the site.”

The area, close to York Railway Station and a mile west of the city centre, has been home to a succession of ill-fated carriage and wagon makers over the last 20 years, first BREL, then ABB and finally Thrall.

The main industrial unit, which once employed up to 4,000 BREL workers, is now occupied by the NDS, and the office block, Alliance House, is also the base for rail-connected occupiers, including May Gurney Ltd and Trackwork Ltd.

Together they pay rent totalling £1,009,000 per year to the owner, London-based Warner Estate Holdings.

The multi-let offices provide a combined annual rent of £63,600 and King Sturge, the national property consultancy is also marketing its “potential to increase the rental income through the letting of currently vacant space”. The storage/manufacturing facility consists of more than 380,000 sq ft with direct access to the national rail network, along with adjoining yard areas and a separate office building. The building was originally constructed as a carriage works in the late 1800s, accommodating paint workshops, a smith’s shop and machining areas.

By 1906 the works catered for the entire production and most of the maintenance work on the carriage stock for Northern Eastern Railway.


‘Site has huge potential’

Andrew Summersgill, head of the King Sturge Investment Team, marketing Holgate Park said the site potentially had “major strategic significance” as it may be included in proposals relating to neighbouring York Central.

The 75 hectare regeneration site, immediately north east of Holgate Park, is earmarked for potential redevelopment within the Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Spatial strategy.

The York Central site is being promoted by Yorkshire Forward, Network Rail and the National Museum of Science & Industry. A development partner is being sought for the mixed use scheme which could combine retail, employment, housing and leisure uses.

Proposals for the York Central site also include a transport interchange, intended to meet the needs of shoppers, visitors, tourists and York residents alike.

Mr Summersgill said: “While the proposals for York Central remain unknown and market conditions are difficult, Holgate Park is an interesting investment proposition in its own right.”